Platform for Research and Interventions in youth Mental health and the Environment (PRIME)

Amid escalating global mental health issues, young Australians face significant vulnerabilities to the psychological impacts of climate change, including heightened climate anxiety and trauma from extreme weather events. PRIME aims to bridge the current evidence gap by creating a research platform with a comprehensive pipeline that facilitates and fast-tracks the development, evaluation, and implementation of diverse group-level interventions that target at negative mental health of climate change for young people. With support from NHMRC, PRIME will harness extensive resources and innovations from a broad partnership network. The initiative will commence with the establishment of an advisory network (WP1) to ensure that the project is aligned with the needs of young people. The subsequent development of a research platform (WP2) is poised to revolutionise the field by implementing integrated framework (eg. a novel outcome measure for, overarching master protocol, and a centralised data collection system) to support a range of interventions from development stage to entering real-world care. The platform will the evaluation of 5 newly established school and community interventions with two subtrials and co-develop and pilot two additional clinical interventions (WP3). Facing the pressing challenges of climate change, PRIME provides sustainable and efficient solutions to empower diverse sectors to quickly address these issues and bolster the implementation of interventions at scale. Focused on group-deliverable interventions across educational, healthcare, and community settings, PRIME offers a scalable and enduring response to this global health crisis. This strategic approach will not only position Australia as a leader in public health related to climate change but also enhance the country's research capabilities, promote evidence-based policymaking, reduce health disparities, and alleviate the growing pressures on mental health resources.